


Singularity Records

by amuk



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-10-31 07:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17844791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk
Summary: An adventure is more than just a series of battles. Sometimes, you need to take a break and reassess your surroundings. -missing scenes throughout the game





	1. Singularity 1: fire and smoke (Mash)

**Author's Note:**

> Written from the fourth singularity’s knowledge. I’m guessing that the dream sequences are about Mash? (people ahead of me can laugh). Anyways, I’m just writing a bunch of snippets for each singularity as I go through them, as a writing exercise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire and smoke. Mash blinked as she stepped out into this new world of brimstone, her eyes watering as the smoke stung them.

 

Fire and smoke. Mash blinked as she stepped out into this new world of brimstone, her eyes watering as the smoke stung them. All around her laid the charred remains of civilization, a fire raging through the ashes as though to even wipe that off the face off the earth.

 

This was not how the world was supposed to be. No, this was not how Mash’s first experience of the world was supposed to be. She had read books of green pastures, of blue skies, of milling people. There was none of that here, only reds and yellows painting her surroundings and the thick, greasy feel of fat in the air.

 

“This is…” she muttered softly.

 

“Fuyuki.” The director frowned, crossing her arms. Despite how she had cowered moments ago when the monsters appeared, she now was the picture of confidence. “Japan.”

 

With those two words, any hopes that this was not Earth were crushed.


	2. Singularity 1: Strain (Ritsuka Fujimaru)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have never been the brightest magician nor the strongest. Yet somehow, it is up to you to save the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel sorry for MC having to support all those servants. It’s gotta be tiring.

 

You have never been the brightest magician, nor the strongest. The very fact that you have ended up in Chaldea is a fluke at best, a mistake at worst. Even the director said so and while she is an arrogant snob, she is also in charge of the place. At the very least, she should know who she recruits.

 

Whatever luck sent you here, the streak continues because you are the only one to survive the transmission, the only one to make it to the singularity. The only one to become a master, of not one but half a dozen servants. You can feel a strain on your body as magic overloads your circuits, as you wrestle with controlling all these heroic spirits. A burning sensation runs through your limbs as you go beyond your limits. If whatever is behind the singularity doesn’t kill you, this sensation might end you first.

 

“Ready, senpai?” Mash asks, a worried expression on her face.

 

You struggle to smile—you’re not exactly sure how you ended up her senpai, since she has been here longer than you, but at the very least you must assuage her fears. The only skill you have is one that is useful here; the ability to strategize, to make plans on the fly.

 

And perhaps the ability to adapt, because while this scenario surprises you, it doesn’t terrify you. It should. The world is burning but you aren’t frozen with fear. Maybe it’s the shock.

 

Fighting back the fatigue, you grin. “Ready.”

 

The only thing left to find out now is if your luck is good or bad. You only hope it wouldn’t have been better if you had died with the rest of humanity.


	3. Singularity 1: merging (Mash)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wasn’t sure what parts were her, what parts weren’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who Mash fused with…

Her body was not her own. Mash had known that from the moment she’d fused with the unknown Servant, his essence spilling into her as she took his hand. But it wasn’t a water and oil mix, where she was aware of what parts were hers and what were his. A neat division that could easily be detangled.

 

No, this was a new creation, a merging, and her senses suddenly extended. A power that was both hers and not. It took barely a thought to summon a shield, another to take a defense pose. Mash had never fought before in her life but her body moved on its own, each action as natural as breathing.

 

“I’ll protect senpai,” she murmured and she wasn’t sure if those words, those feelings were her own either.


	4. Singularity 1: failure (Olga Marie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had to be a lie, a falsehood, a trick; anything but the truth. Lev wouldn’t have betrayed her. He couldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, I did find Marie’s inability to comprehend Lev’s betrayal really interesting. I wonder just how dependent she was of him?

Lev’s gentle smile twisted into a cruel smirk. “I did it.”

 

And it had to be a lie, a falsehood, a trick; anything but the truth. It was bad enough that Fuyuki was akin to a painting from hell, with monsters roaming through a city that should have been populated with people, not corpses. It was hard enough to accept that all of Olga’s hand-picked, chosen master candidates had died or didn’t make it to the singularity, leaving only the half-asleep idiot and the demi-servant Mash.

 

But to hear that Lev had been behind it all? That he had betrayed her—he wouldn’t have. He couldn’t. It just wasn’t possible.

 

 “No,” Olga whispered, unable to make a sound louder than a whimper.

 

“Yes,” he answered, malicious where he used to be kind.

 

Her eyes stung, her throat burned, and it had to be because of the fire and smoke. Not due to the disappointments that were almost like a second skin to her by now. Nor due to the lack of control that centered every facet of her life.

 

And definitely not because no matter what she did, she was a failure, she had always been one.


	5. Singularity 1: Summoning (Cu Chulainn)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cu Chulainn knew the holy grail war was in the bag the moment he was summoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ignore any inaccuracies on how the Throne/Summoning works. A little meta for the joke.  

Someone was calling him. Cu could feel a tug on his spirit, something dragging him towards the earth. Towards a specific time. There was a holy grail war, a summoning, and someone was calling for him.

 

No, not just him. Cu didn’t have to look around the Throne to sense other heroic spirits were feeling the exact same thing. This wasn’t a specific summoning but a more generic one. Anyone would do and while he was loath to answer such a generic call, his desire for the grail outweighed his irritation. Besides, he was never one to stand back and watch others take his place. Giving himself entirely over to the magic, he let it drag him to a small summoning circle in the middle of a field.

 

Power coursed through his body as he materialized, his body gaining weight and strength as reality defined it. “I’m here, master,” he called out with newly developed vocal chords and Cu grinned broadly as his straightened his posture. With his lance, nothing would stand between him and the holy grail. Provided he didn’t have a shit master, that is.

 

Though, he could get around that, probably. He was no Archer, but even without the independent action he was confident he could get his master to see things his way. Cu—

 

The pole in his hand was not the shaft of his spear. He stared at the staff, blinking hard as though to clear his eyes. Nope, it was still a staff, and his body felt more frail than he remembered it.

 

It seemed he was no Lancer but a Caster. Suddenly, Cu understood why people said Lancers had terrible luck.


	6. Singularity 2: witch (Jeanne D'Arc, Jeanne D'Arc Alter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Witch they called her. A moniker she would never lose. Maybe she should make it her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onto the second singularity! Just wanted to do a point comparison with this one.

 

“Witch,” the priest whimpered, staring up at Jeanne in fear. He cowered, curling up into himself, his body trembling with every move she made.

 

Witch. Jeanne smirked. That old insult. She had heard it hundreds of times before she died, the crowd chanting it over and over as the fires licked her body. Their voices had echoed in the air, drowning out her pleas, her prayers. They had condemned her before she could utter a single word of defense.

 

Even now their voices echoed in her head.

 

“You know, you’re right,” Jeanne murmured. The priest’s eyes widened, a horrified expression crossing his face as she raised her hand. Perhaps it was time she became a witch.

 

It was what they wanted, after all.

 

-x-

 

“Witch,” a guard yelled, drawing his sword. Around him, the rest of his troop followed suit and while Jeanne could not see their expressions through their helmets, she could hear the terror in their voices. Their hands shook as they gripped their swords.

 

Jeanne frowned, her hands curling tightly around her flag. Witch. Even death did not change what they called her. What they felt toward her. They ignored her pleas, her requests to help, fighting her as they did the wyverns that scorched the land.

 

Whatever she said, the only response was _witch_. Whether France was saved or not, whether her actions were that of a saint or not, it seemed she was doomed to that moniker.

 

“I’m no witch,” she said sadly, shifting her weight so she could run. They didn’t seem to hear her but she could live with that.

 

Saving people was never about the reward, after all.


	7. Singularity 2: doom (Gille De Rais, Jeanne D'Arc)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, Jeanne couldn’t answer his call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gilles’ summary makes me laugh. What an ordinary fellow.

 

“Jeanne!” a knight yelled, his sword hanging slack in his hands. “It’s you, right? You didn’t die!”

 

At the sound, she paused. A quick glance confirmed what she already knew to be true; the knight was Giles. Her old friend, her companion. His armour gleamed in the sunlight, his eyes wide with disbelief. Her mouth opened involuntarily to call out his name, to respond.

 

The curious stares of her companions brought her back to reality and she turned away. The dead did not come back for a reason. “Let’s go,” she murmured to them, clutching her banner tightly.

 

“Are you sure?” Mash asked, peeking curiously across the long, sloping fields at the group of knights. “You don’t want to talk to him?”

 

“I do.” More than anything, in fact. All of history was available to her, knowledge of the past, present, and future at her fingertips. Jeanne knew exactly what would happen to her friend, how his soul would be stained a black darker than the night. Doom was in his future and she knew that she had a small hand in it.

 

But telling him would change nothing—it would be a moment’s reprieve, a small hope that would flicker out the moment they fixed the singularity. It was better to say nothing at all, to save the world and leave things as they were.

 

“Jeanne! Come back!” Giles shouted, sheathing his sword.

 

 

Firmly, Jeanne turned her back to him.


	8. Singularity 2: sainthood(Marie Antoinette, Jeanne D'Arc)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Jeanne was no saint, it sounded like a truth from Marie’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m just going to pretend that Marie’s convos with Henry had zero traces of blush.

 

“Are you ready?” Marie asked, glancing over her shoulder at Jeanne. Despite her status as queen, she had adapted surprisingly quickly to their situation and barely complained about their threadbare arrangements. If anything, she had relished sleeping under the stars, calling the night sky a diamond necklace fit for royalty.

 

“Almost.” Jeanne adjusted her headpiece. It wouldn’t be long now. They were drawing closer and closer to Orleans, to her other self, and she had yet to settle her feelings on the matter. She could not understand the hate, the resentment that whirled in the dark Jeanne.

 

Did that make her the fake? Or did it mean she just did not understand herself? Jeanne wasn’t sure which option was worse.

 

“Jeanne.” Marie stepped closer now, a reassuring smile on her lips. Her expression softened. “Don’t worry. We won’t fail.”

 

Before Jeanne could respond, two soft hands grasped her own, squeezing hard. “I know you can do it.” Marie’s tone was firm, brokering no disagreements.

 

These were definitely the hands of a queen. Marie’s skin was soft, unscarred, and Jeanne could only imagine how her own hands felt. The callouses from a lifetime of peasantry and then war. She looked up at Marie’s face, at the bright, innocent smile that hadn’t left her throughout their journey. Despite her naïveté, there was something reassuring about her presence, her actions. Something steadying about her and her words, something that just rang true.

 

“After all, you are a saint,” Marie finished confidently.

 

For once, she didn’t argue. Jeanne was no saint but for Marie, she wanted to be.


	9. Singularity 2:  true to thyself (Mash, Jeanne, Marie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be true to thyself. The problem was, Mash didn’t know who that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh, I hate this drabble, but since there is only one other person reading this, please bear with me.

 

“I don’t know,” Jeanne confessed quietly as they sat around the campfire. Her voice was so quiet, it was hard to hear over the sound of the crackling flames. “That other Jeanne…she might be right.”

 

“You are a saint,” Marie refuted sternly, shaking her head. She reached out and squeezed Jeanne’s arm. “She is not you.”

 

“Maybe.” Jeanne didn’t look convinced and Mash watched as she threw another stick into the fire. The flames flickered, their shadows dancing over her skin as she mulled over it. “I never felt that hatred, that rage. But maybe I didn’t know myself all that well.”

 

Mash kept quiet, not sure of what to say. Whether it was joy or hatred or sorrow, she had never even flirted with those emotions. It might be beyond her capacity to experience them, let alone confirm if Jeanne was right or wrong.

 

 _Be true to thyself_ , the saying went, but she didn’t have a clue of who that was, on where to start. Before now, she never needed to and was content to remain that way.

 

Nearby, her senpai was fast asleep on the grass, worn out from the day’s battles. It had changed when they met, she realized with a start. This desire to know, to change, to grow.

 

“Do you feel it now?” Mash asked, leaning closer to the pair. Maybe she wouldn’t have the answers, wouldn’t even be able to recognize them, but she could try. It was a step forward from the person she used to be.

 

And hopefully, it was a step closer to senpai.

 


	10. Singularity 2: repetition (Wolfgang Mozart)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mozart could laugh at how expected it all was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s terrible, but I have a weakness for Mozart’s and Marie’s interactions. Also, fgo, do you really need to make me write fanfiction about historical characters?

 

“Marie died,” Mash softly muttered, gripping her arm tightly. She didn’t look at Mozart, her eyes cast to the ground.

 

“I see.” To be honest, he had expected this the moment she had left. Marie had always been a silly girl, more child than queen, and dying as a hero was the most childish dream of them all. She probably saw it as romantic, sacrificing herself to save her country.

 

Unfortunately, he had never been so idealistic. They had died already once, it didn’t require much courage to go through death’s door once more. Especially since they’d continue to live on as heroic spirits, waiting for the next master to call them down.

 

More than a heroic thing, it was a moronic thing and Marie always had a penchant for picking the worst possible option.

 

“She had a message for you.” Jeanne looked somber as she reached out to touch him. “She wanted to hear you piano. And she was sorry.”

 

Mozart neatly stepped back, just out of reach. “That sounds like her.”

 

When the pair looked like they wanted to add something, he shook his head and turned away. “I’m fine.”

 

He was. This was a war, after all. There was no way they could win unscathed.

 

Still. It was stupid. Terribly unfunny. Not in the least entertaining. By some coincidence they had been reunited like this, both of them summoned out of the countless servants in the throne room. All so he could watch her die again. Due to the same person, even.

 

Fate truly did have a cruel streak.


End file.
